Was This Worth $1,000,000,066?
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To review: Amtrak receives approximately one billion dollars in taxpayer money each year, every year. Because passenger rail is "necessary" — especially the lines that people don't actually use enough (i.e., don't actually need enough) for the railroad to turn a profit.
Yesterday I met a friend at Foxwoods Casino. My plan had been to take a commuter train (also taxpayer subsidized, of course) from New York City to New Haven, Connecticut, then connect by Greyhound Bus to the casino.
My friend, who was on a schedule, instead suggested that I take Amtrak to New London, Connecticut, one station stop past New Haven (Amtrak and the commuter line run on the same track). That way, he could pick me up at the train station and we could drive together to Foxwoods, giving us a bit more time based on the train schedules.
But that extra hour or so came with a price:
There was a bizarrely long line at Penn Station for 8am on a Sunday morning. No concern to me, however: I had reserved my ticket online days earlier and just needed to make my way to a ticket kiosk.
Amtrak's entire computer system was down. Had been for two days.
So, with no guidance being offered by any Amtrak representatives, I did what everyone else did: got on the line.
Is having three trains leave at exactly the same time, with or without working computers, a public good?
After the minutes passed faster than people through the line, as 9am approached, word finally spread (but not by any initiative from Amtrak employees), that folks like me, with a reservation (and a computer printout to prove it), could in fact just board the train. Thirty minutes on a line for nothing. Is that a public good? Is that a "vital national asset"?
One more detail: The conductor indicated that this same phenomenon occurs almost every weekend, and that Amtrak's computer system cost $40 million. Must be from Diebold.
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Incidentally:
New York to New Haven by commuter rail:
70 miles, $14, 20 cents per mile.
New York to New London by Amtrak:
109 miles, $66, 60 cents per mile.
Or, if you prefer,
New Haven to New London by Amtrak:
39 miles, $52, 133 cents per mile.
(Of course, both services are taxpayer-subsidized, so the math is a bit fuzzy. But the point remains: Amtrak is "vital" — why?)
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Irony:
In strictly meaningless terms, Amtrak is indeed a "private" entity (but with its own police force?), and its facilities are indeed "private property." All the more reason for indignation over its one billion dollar annual taxpayer subsidy. (See also, "Corporation for Public Broadcasting.")
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Red alert!
I was afraid to stay too long, lest I be declared a public use and seized by eminent domain.
Yesterday I met a friend at Foxwoods Casino. My plan had been to take a commuter train (also taxpayer subsidized, of course) from New York City to New Haven, Connecticut, then connect by Greyhound Bus to the casino.
My friend, who was on a schedule, instead suggested that I take Amtrak to New London, Connecticut, one station stop past New Haven (Amtrak and the commuter line run on the same track). That way, he could pick me up at the train station and we could drive together to Foxwoods, giving us a bit more time based on the train schedules.
But that extra hour or so came with a price:
There was a bizarrely long line at Penn Station for 8am on a Sunday morning. No concern to me, however: I had reserved my ticket online days earlier and just needed to make my way to a ticket kiosk.
Amtrak's entire computer system was down. Had been for two days.
So, with no guidance being offered by any Amtrak representatives, I did what everyone else did: got on the line.
Is having three trains leave at exactly the same time, with or without working computers, a public good?
After the minutes passed faster than people through the line, as 9am approached, word finally spread (but not by any initiative from Amtrak employees), that folks like me, with a reservation (and a computer printout to prove it), could in fact just board the train. Thirty minutes on a line for nothing. Is that a public good? Is that a "vital national asset"?
One more detail: The conductor indicated that this same phenomenon occurs almost every weekend, and that Amtrak's computer system cost $40 million. Must be from Diebold.
---
Incidentally:
New York to New Haven by commuter rail:
70 miles, $14, 20 cents per mile.
New York to New London by Amtrak:
109 miles, $66, 60 cents per mile.
Or, if you prefer,
New Haven to New London by Amtrak:
39 miles, $52, 133 cents per mile.
(Of course, both services are taxpayer-subsidized, so the math is a bit fuzzy. But the point remains: Amtrak is "vital" — why?)
---
Irony:
In strictly meaningless terms, Amtrak is indeed a "private" entity (but with its own police force?), and its facilities are indeed "private property." All the more reason for indignation over its one billion dollar annual taxpayer subsidy. (See also, "Corporation for Public Broadcasting.")
---
Red alert!
I was afraid to stay too long, lest I be declared a public use and seized by eminent domain.
Posted by Kip on
27 August 2007
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